Methods and Apparatus Facilitating Management of a San

1. A computer-implemented method in which at least one computer system initiates execution of instructions retrieved from storage to facilitate management of a storage area network, the computer-implemented method comprising: displaying a list of managed objects associated with respective resources in the storage area network; receiving a command to display view mode options associated with a set of at least two managed objects in the list; and in response to receiving the command, displaying a menu of view mode options that can be applied to each of the at least two managed objects in the set, the menu excluding any view mode options associated with the at least two managed objects that cannot be applied to all managed objects in the set; receiving a selection of a given view mode option from the menu; in response to receiving the selection of the given view mode in the menu, simultaneously displaying the at least two managed objects according to the given view mode; wherein simultaneously displaying the at least two managed objects according to the given view mode includes displaying a first view of corresponding logical storage area network connectivity, the first view based on a viewing of the at least two managed objects with respect to a set of other resources in the storage area network related to the set of at least two managed objects, the computer-implemented method further comprising: initiating display of focus history information in the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity, the focus history information indicating that the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity is based on the at least two managed objects; receiving a selection of a particular resource from the set of other resources displayed in the first view of corresponding logical storage area network connectivity; in response to receiving the selection of the particular resource, expanding the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity into a second view, the second view including display of the set of at least two managed objects and an additional set of resources associated with the particular resource; and in addition to expanding the first view to the second view, updating display of the focus history information to indicate that the second view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity is based on the particular resource.

2. A computer-implemented method as in claim 1 , wherein displaying the list of managed objects occurs in response to selection of a type of managed objects from a hierarchical tree of managed objects associated with the storage area network, the hierarchical tree of managed objects including groupings of common resources in the storage area network.

3. A computer-implemented method as in claim 2 , wherein displaying the list of managed objects associated with respective resources in the storage area network includes initiating display of the list of managed objects in a first region of a display screen, the method further comprising: initiating display of the hierarchical tree of managed objects in a second region of a display screen; and initiating display of a filter function associated with the list of managed objects in a third region of the display screen, the filter function enabling a user to reduce a number of managed objects currently being displayed in the list.

4. A computer-implemented method as in claim 3 , wherein displaying the list of managed objects occurs in response to selection of a grouping of resources in the hierarchical tree of managed objects.

5. A computer-implemented method as in claim 1 further comprising: receiving input from a user indicating selection of the at least two managed objects in the list; and in response to receiving the input, highlighting respective rows of information in the list to indicate the selection of the at least two managed objects by the user.

6. A computer-implemented method as in claim 5 , wherein receiving the command to display the menu of view mode options includes: detecting that the user initiates activation of a view mode associated with a corresponding symbol in the list of managed objects, the symbol representing one of the at least two managed objects; and providing a visual indication in a vicinity with respect to the corresponding symbol to indicate the activation of the view mode.

7. A computer-implemented method as in claim 6 , wherein receiving the command to display the menu of view mode options includes: detecting a position of a user-controlled pointer in a vicinity of the corresponding symbol; and while the user-controlled pointer is positioned in the vicinity of the corresponding symbol, detecting that the user right clicks a corresponding mouse associated with the pointer to initiate display of a pull-down menu.

8. A computer-implemented method as in claim 1 further comprising: identifying that a first managed object of the at least two managed objects can be viewed according to a first view mode and a second view mode; identifying that a second managed object of the at least two managed objects can be viewed according to the second view mode as well as a third view mode; and wherein displaying the menu of view mode options that can be applied to each of the at least two managed objects includes displaying an indication of the second view mode as a selectable option for viewing the at least two managed objects, while excluding respective indications of the first view mode and the third view mode from the menu of the view mode options.

9. A computer-implemented method as in claim 8 further comprising: receiving a selection of the second view mode in the menu by a user to display the at least two managed objects according to the second view mode; displaying the at least two managed objects on a corresponding display screen according to the second view mode, the second view mode including a physical topology view of how the at least two managed objects are related to other managed object resources in the storage area network; and while displaying the at least two managed objects as well as the other managed object resources, enabling the user to select at least one of the other managed object resources and view a respective selected managed object resource according to another view mode.

10. A computer-implemented method as in claim 1 further comprising: displaying the focus information in the second view to include a sequence of multiple entries, each entry in the sequence corresponding to a respective view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity.

11. A computer-implemented method as in claim 10 further comprising: providing an indication of a progression of displaying different views of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity by displaying the focus information in the second view to include the sequence of multiple entries, the sequence of multiple entries including a first entry and a second entry, the first entry of the sequence indicating identities of the at least two resources and being associated with the first view, the second entry of the sequence indicating an identity of the particular resource.

12. A computer-implemented method as in claim 11 further comprising: in the first view, displaying a first set of view modes that can be applied to the set of at least two resources; and in the second view, displaying a second set of view modes that can be applied to the particular resource, the first set of view modes being different than the second set of view modes.

13. A computer system comprising: a processor; a memory unit that stores instructions associated with an application executed by the processor; and an interconnect coupling the processor and the memory unit, enabling the computer system to execute the application and perform operations of: displaying a list of managed objects associated with respective resources in a storage area network; receiving a command to display view mode options associated with a set of at least two managed objects in the list; and in response to receiving the command, displaying a menu of view mode options that can be applied to each of the at least two managed objects in the set, the menu excluding any view mode options associated with the at least two managed objects that cannot be applied to all managed objects in the set; receiving a selection of a given view mode option from the menu; in response to receiving the selection of the given view mode in the menu, simultaneously displaying the at least two managed objects according to the given view mode; wherein simultaneously displaying the at least two managed objects according to the given view mode includes displaying a first view of corresponding logical storage area network connectivity, the first view based on a viewing of the at least two managed objects with respect to a set of other resources in the storage area network related to the set of at least two managed objects; initiating display of focus history information in the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity, the focus history information indicating that the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity is based on the at least two managed objects; receiving a selection of a particular resource from the set of other resources displayed in the first view of corresponding logical storage area network connectivity; in response to receiving the selection of the particular resource, expanding the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity into a second view, the second view including display of the set of at least two managed objects and an additional set of resources associated with the particular resource; and in addition to expanding the first view to the second view, updating display of the focus history information to indicate that the second view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity is based on the particular resource.

14. A computer program product including a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for processing data information, such that the instructions, when carried out by a processing device, enable the processing device to perform operations of: displaying a list of managed objects associated with respective resources in a storage area network; receiving a command to display view mode options associated with a set of at least two managed objects in the list; and in response to receiving the command, displaying a menu of view mode options that can be applied to each of the at least two managed objects in the set, the menu excluding any view mode options associated with the at least two managed objects that cannot be applied to all managed objects in the set; receiving a selection of a given view mode option from the menu; in response to receiving the selection of the given view mode in the menu, simultaneously displaying the at least two managed objects according to the given view mode; wherein simultaneously displaying the at least two managed objects according to the given view mode includes displaying a first view of corresponding logical storage area network connectivity, the first view based on a viewing of the at least two managed objects with respect to a set of other resources in the storage area network related to the set of at least two managed objects; initiating display of focus history information in the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity, the focus history information indicating that the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity is based on the at least two managed objects; receiving a selection of a particular resource from the set of other resources displayed in the first view of corresponding logical storage area network connectivity; in response to receiving the selection of the particular resource, expanding the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity into a second view, the second view including display of the set of at least two managed objects and an additional set of resources associated with the particular resource; and in addition to expanding the first view to the second view, updating display of the focus history information to indicate that the second view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity is based on the particular resource.

15. A computer system comprising a processor configured to execute instructions retrieved from storage, the computer system supporting management of a storage area network, the computer system including: means for displaying a list of managed objects associated with respective resources in the storage area network; means for receiving a command to display view mode options associated with a set of at least two managed objects in the list; and means for displaying a menu of view mode options that can be applied to each of the at least two managed objects in the set in response to receiving the command, the menu excluding any view mode options associated with the at least two managed objects that cannot be applied to all managed objects in the set; means for receiving a selection of a given view mode option from the menu; means for simultaneously displaying the at least two managed objects according to the given view mode in response to receiving the selection of the given view mode in the menu; wherein means for simultaneously displaying the at least two managed objects according to the given view mode includes means for displaying a first view of corresponding logical storage area network connectivity, the first view based on a viewing of the at least two managed objects with respect to a set of other resources in the storage area network related to the set of at least two managed objects; means for initiating display of focus history information in the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity, the focus history information indicating that the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity is based on the at least two managed objects; means for receiving a selection of a particular resource from the set of other resources displayed in the first view of corresponding logical storage area network connectivity; means for expanding the first view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity into a second view in response to receiving the selection of the particular resource, the second view including display of the set of at least two managed objects and an additional set of resources associated with the particular resource; and in addition to means for expanding the first view to the second view, means for updating display of the focus history information to indicate that the second view of the corresponding logical storage area network connectivity is based on the particular resource.